It's easy, and common, to write the Caribbean - and particularly, these smaller, more elite islands of the Eastern Caribbean - off as resort-saturated, tourist-tsunamied outposts of travel consumerism. Most folks looking for "authentic culture" probably figure the islands are well and...

I spent a good portion of this afternoon dodging around under the spreading branches of a huge mango tree in the front yard. My dad was on a ladder, using a long hook-ended pole to knock the ripest fruit from the tree, and I was running from side to side, awkward in a skirt and flipflops, trying (and...

Growing up in Saskatoon and then Ottawa, I was a long trek from the nearest wave. Surfing was not an option. But water, whether fresh, chlorinated or salted, has always been the only antidote to my natural scaredy-cat tendencies: as a kid I wouldn't even think of climbing a tree, and I once told...

Whether it's mid-winter blahs or facing a snarky boss who's flushed his nicotine patch, this may be the most depressing week of the year. It's the week most people give up on their resolutions and prepare to face another year without reducing their debt, waistline or alcohol consumption.

Got plans for...

I just booked a flight to Barbados!! I'll be on island time for the entire month of April... and back to start the summer here in Canada with a head-start on a killer tan.

Cancer-cruising aside, though, I'm really psyched to check out Barbados and hopefully some other islands in the eastern Caribbean...